Bacon, Olive and Cheese Loaf Cake

Apr 3, 2019 | 9 comments

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The U3A cookery group came round today. We have such fun, exploring recipes, stirring, tasting, baking and talking about flavours, options and possibilities. Not to mention the large amount of laughter and gossiping that goes on! This month, we made Peanut Butter Noodles, katjan sauce and used that to make Gado Gado, some Galaxy instant hot chocolate flavoured ice cream, and this savoury cake, flavoured with bacon, olive & cheese.

We actually used ham rather than bacon, but as I was writing this, it occured to me that cooking bacon would shave quite a few pence off, so I swapped it. Of course, use ham if you want to

We used a loaf tin as I wanted to see how it would slice, but I’ve ordered some silicone mini loaf tins as I will use those for lots of things and they would be perfect for this. There were other ones, but  they seemed too small for a meat loaf or savoury cake portion. I’ve got 12 coming! I’m never going to need that many in one go, so I’ll pass on the extra ones

Bacon, Olive & Cheese Cake

 

 

Verdict

We all really loved this and most of it was eaten while still hot. Once we’d sliced off about a third, it was soft and crumbly, and difficult to slice. But it isn’t necessarily supposed to be eaten hot.

I couldn’t detect the thyme, so I’d use more next  time.

This would be fab with a green salad and a coleslaw or remoulade.

Or make it in muffin tins, or small loaf shaped tins for beautiful individual portions. Or you could use a 20cm cake tin.

Once completely cold, the loaf can be thinly sliced if desired, maybe for entertaining. Fabulous for packed lunches too

 

Variations

If you want vegetarian, leave out the ham. Or change it completely, keeping the basic loaf proportions the same, use a total of 350g of flavour ingredients to replace any or all of the ham/cheese/olives, using the paprika, or not, as you please.

This would be perfect for using up odds and ends from the fridge.

  • Lovely, garlicky roasted veg and the gnarly end of the cheese
  • chop a total of 350g mixed veg and saute them, then add to the mix
  • the pickings from a chicken carcass, a fried onion and half a tin of tomatoes in place of the milk
  • crispy bacon shreds, black pudding and half a tin of baked beans for an all day breakfast type version
  • replace the milk with coconut milk, use a tblsp Thai curry paste (mix into the dry ingredients and give it a good smell, add more paste if you think it needs it) and add some prawns or chicken, mange tout and bean sprouts
  • Vegan versions can replace the eggs with aquafaba at the rate of 3 tblsps of aquafaba to each egg and use a plant milk. For this recipe, we use 4 eggs, so 12 tblsps of aquafaba.
    • For vegan flavourings, lovely garlicky roasted vegetables
    • grated carrot, walnuts and green olives
    • grated parsnip, hazelnuts and black olives
    • miso
    • mushrooms (pre-fried) and sweetcorn
    • maybe use some nutritional yeast for cheesiness

Let us all know on Twitter (@ThriftyLesley), Facebook or Instagram (@ThriftyLesley) if you try a version of your own, all ideas gratefully received!

 

ham, olive and cheese loaf for a cheap family meal

Bacon, Olive & Cheese Loaf Cake

5 from 2 votes
A savoury Loaf Cake stuffed full of bacon or ham, olives & cheese. Can be used for all occasions
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Course:
Dinner
,
Lunch
,
Picnic
,
School Lunches
Cuisine:
French
No Nuts by Llisole from the Noun Project
Nut Free
freeze by Hare Krishna from the Noun Project
Freezes Well
Servings: 6
Cost per portion 34p
Calories: 582kcal
Click on the check box to cross off Equipment, Ingredients or Recipe Steps completed.
If you click and buy anything, I may get a small commission on the purchase. It won't cost you anything extra. Some are just things that I like and/or use myself rather than necessarily best value 🙂
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a review? It would really help

Ingredients

  • 150 ml olive oil Asda £1.50/litre,3p
  • 250 g self raising flour  45p/1.5 kg, 7p
  • 1 tsp baking powder 2p
  • 3 tblsp sweet smoked paprika Rajah 50p/100g, 12p
  • ½ tsp dried thyme 59p/17g, 1p
  • 100 g cheddar  £3.69/825g, 45p
  • 150 g cooking bacon 600g/67p, 17p
  • 100 g green olives  59p/310g, 30p
  • ½ tsp black pepper 1p
  • 4 eggs 53p

Instructions

  • Priced at Asda April 2019
    Line a 1.5 litre loaf tin. I use a silicone liner like this one, which I can use over and over again. Or you can line it with baking parchment
  • Grill the bacon until crispy, keeping all the juices. Leave to cool.
  • In a bowl, sieve in the flour, baking powder and paprika. Add the olives, cheese, bacon and all the juices, thyme and pepper and mix well together.
  • Use a jug to whisk together the eggs and oil.
  • Now treat the mixture like a muffin and tip the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just enough to combine. Lots of mixing will toughen the finished loaf. Transfer the mixture to the lined tin and bake at 200c/400f/gas mark 6 for 45-50 minutes until golden. Leave in the tin for a few minutes to firm up before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.  click here to start a 45 minute timer 

Notes

If enjoying this glorious loaf as a main meal, serve 1/6 per person with a salad of iceberg and cucumber, or some hot veg. It’s pretty difficult to cut into neat slices when hot, so if you want it hot, I would make it in individual portions in small loaf tins or muffin tins.

 




 
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Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Bacon, Olive & Cheese Loaf Cake
Amount per Serving
Calories
582
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
41
g
63
%
Saturated Fat
 
10
g
63
%
Cholesterol
 
127
mg
42
%
Sodium
 
413
mg
18
%
Potassium
 
358
mg
10
%
Carbohydrates
 
36
g
12
%
Fiber
 
4
g
17
%
Sugar
 
1
g
1
%
Protein
 
20
g
40
%
Vitamin A
 
4030
IU
81
%
Calcium
 
205
mg
21
%
Iron
 
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ThriftyLesley or tag #ThriftyLesley !

 

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Thrifty Lesley

    Jo – that would make a good substitute for a vegetarian version

  2. Jo

    Substitute sun-dried tomatoes for bacon.

  3. Thrifty Lesley

    Eleanor – they freeze beautifully, and will re-crisp on heating in the oven or toaster

  4. Eleanor

    5 stars
    Late to the party, but made these with leeks, mushrooms, feta cheese and a few frozen peas, plus cheddar. Delicious but wondering if I can freeze some as it seems to have made quite a lot.

  5. Thrifty Lesley

    Deborah, the milk was from a previous version, no milk required in this version. Apologies, I’ve removed the reference to milk

  6. Deborah Williams

    Hi, I can’t see milk in the list of ingredients, but it is mentioned in the recipe. How much milk should I use?

  7. Lesley

    Ooh, praise indeed! Much like when something goes down well at WI !

  8. Kerry

    Hi Lesley, the savoury loaf is fab! I made it with smoked ham, caramelised onion and strong cheddar. It went down a storm. I live in France where everyone makes these on a regular basis for nibbles with drinks and even my French friends have been asking for the recipe. Bottoms up!

  9. Kayleigh Watkins

    Sounds like a great day, the Galaxy instant hot chocolate flavoured ice cream sounds divine, I’d love to try this savoury loaf too xx

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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